


Along the Way

by Bittersweet



Series: Changes [1]
Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Boston Bruins, Developing Relationship, Florida Panthers, M/M, Mountains, Vancouver Canucks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-13
Updated: 2014-06-13
Packaged: 2018-02-04 13:36:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,431
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1780981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bittersweet/pseuds/Bittersweet
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The helicopter Eddie Lack and Tuukka Rask were on goes down over Vancouver's North Shore Mountains. Luongo comes back from Florida to help look for Eddie and finds out the search has been complicated. Luongo and friends head into the mountains by themselves to find their friend.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“Come on Stork,” Bieksa said squeezing Eddie’s shoulder. “We’re going to hit some of Vancouver’s finest bars to celebrate.”

Eddie’s face hurt a little from the grin that had been stuck there since they’d shut out Boston but he shook his head. “I can’t. I made plans to take a helicopter ride over the North Shore Mountains.”

Bieksa shook his head. “I’m going to pretend that that makes any kind of sense. Text me if you change your mind and I’ll tell you where we are.”

Eddie stopped by his apartment to grab something to eat before driving out to Grouse Mountain so he was running a little late when he reached the helicopter pad.

“Mr. Lack?” the pilot greeted him at the side of the helicopter. “My name’s Richard.”

“Eddie,” he answered shaking the pilot’s hand. “Sorry I’m late.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Richard said grinning. “The other passengers are already here so I’m just going to go over the safety instructions with you and then we can start out.”

Eddie climbed into the back of the helicopter, since the seat next to the pilot was already taken, and hesitated as recognized the Bruins’ goaltender in the other seat of the helicopter. Rask took no notice of him, staring out the window. Eddie shrugged it off and took his seat, focusing on the rundown the pilot was giving them, introducing Rask who he knew, obviously, and the third passenger whose name was Timothy Peters.

They rose into the air a few minutes later and Eddie watched the ground receding until they were up over the mountaintops, the pilot telling them which peaks they were passing over.

Eddie lost himself staring down at the vast expanse of wilderness. He liked thinking that something like that could exist on the edge of human expansion.

The screech of metal on metal drew his attention to the front seats where Timothy had stopped talking for the first time since the flight started and the pilot was moving with urgency.

“What’s going on?” Eddie asked. The helicopter shuddered and dropped alarmingly.

“Oh my God,” Timothy said sounding close to hysterics. “We’re going to crash and die!”

“You’ll be fine so long as you do as I say,” Richard said continuing the fast decent.

The engine made a choking sound and the reassuring whirring of the blades cut out. The helicopter dropped like a rock from the sky and slammed into the small clearing that Richard had been aiming for. Eddie’s head struck the door on his left and it took a second for him to realize that the helicopter had stopped moving.

Timothy was screaming and forced his door open, falling out onto the ground.

Rask pushed his door open and jumped out with far more grace and Eddie followed suite, still feeling a bit dizzy.

“Our pilot’s dead!” Timothy was shouting at Rask when Eddie reached the other side of the helicopter. “We’re trapped in the mountains and we’re all going to die—” A sound like a car backfiring cut through the air and, in what seemed like slow motion to Eddie, Timothy stumbled forward then dropped to the ground. The next second Rask had grabbed Eddie’s arm and jerked him back to the other side of the helicopter.

“When I say run, run straight to the trees. Keep low and keep the chopper behind you, understand?” Rask said sharply.

Eddie nodded and Rask pushed him slightly towards the trees.

“Run.”

Eddie’s head was still fuzzy but he didn’t hesitate to do as Rask said. He’d reached the near edge of the trees when he heard another shot ring out behind him but he didn’t dare take the time to look back. He was a fair distance into the trees when his foot skidded on some wet leaves left over from last fall and he crashed to the ground. He was relieved when Rask caught up with him a few seconds later, sliding on the leaves but keeping his footing. Eddie had been worried that that last shot had meant he was now alone out here. He pushed himself into a sitting position and leaned against the trunk of a nearby tree to catch his breath, his head pounding angrily. He wiped at something sticky on his cheek and his fingers came away bloody. He pressed the edge of his sleeve against his temple, hoping that he hadn’t hit his head hard enough to give himself a concussion.

Rask dropped down next to him. “We should keep moving,” he said looking warily back the way they’d came.

Eddie hesitated. “Shouldn’t we stay put?” he asked sure that was something he’d heard. “In case anyone is looking for us?”

Rask gave him a withering glare. “Those people at the helicopter were trying to kill us. Who else do you think is going to be looking for us right now?”

“Good point.” Eddie climbed back to his feet. “Um, I think that way will take us back to the city.”

Rask nodded and started to push himself up. He hissed in pain and clutched his left arm to his chest.

“What’s wrong?” Eddie asked worriedly.

Something snapped in the forest they had just come through and Rask scrambled back to his feet. They looked at one another and hurried in the direction that Eddie had pointed.

 

They had been walking for hours, seemingly no closer to the city, when it started to get dark and they were forced to stop under the shelter of a large tree. It was surprisingly cool as the sun dipped behind the mountains and it wasn’t long before Eddie was shivering. He pulled out his phone to see if maybe he’d magically picked up a signal since the last time he’d checked it and winced at the battery which had dropped to thirty-two percent. He put the phone away and rubbed his hands over his arms.

“Aren’t you cold?” he asked Rask after a while.

“No,” Rask said tersely.

Eddie sighed and pulled his legs up closer to his chest, feeling the cool damp air through his light clothing. He closed his eyes and tried to ignore his surroundings enough to sleep, glad that at least his headache had gone.


	2. Chapter 2

Rask woke to the feel of Adam’s breath warm against his neck. He lifted his hand to curl his fingers into Adam’s hair. The motion sent a twinge of pain through his arm, jarring him fully awake and reminding him where he was, that it was Eddie Lack of all people lying next to him. He jerked away, jostling Eddie.

“We should get moving,” he said shortly, refusing to feel guilty at the look of sleepy confusion on Eddie’s face at the sudden awakening.

“Yeah,” Eddie said yawning. “I’d really love to have some pop tarts.” He grinned slightly.

“Don’t you ever shut up?” Rask growled.

Eddie stared at him in surprise. “Sorry. I didn’t mean—”

Rask stalked away before Eddie could finish his sentence.

 

“Have you seen Eddie?” Bieksa asked catching up with Kesler and Burrows on the ice at their afternoon practice.

“Not today,” Burrows answered.

“He’d better show up before Torts notices,” Kesler joked.

“Where the fuck is Lack?” Tortorella shouted over the noise of the men on the ice.

The three of them winced.

“He said he was going on a helicopter ride last night,” Bieksa answered.

“Why the hell was he doing that?” Tortorella’s phone rang and he answered it, turning away from the ice to hear better.

“It’s strange that he’d miss practice,” Burrows said looking concerned.

“What!” Tortorella’s voice boomed through the arena and all the guys on the ice stopped and looked at him. “Shit!” Tortorella threw his phone against the ground, shattering it. He turned back towards the ice. “Shit!” he repeated.

“What’s happened Coach?” Henrik asked.

“The helicopter that Lack was on went down. Search and Rescue found the helicopter with the pilot and one passenger dead. There was no sign of Lack or Rask.”

“Rask?” Burrows asked.

“For some reason he was on the damned helicopter too. Keep going, I’ve got to make some phone calls.”

Tortorella stormed away and the players looked at one another.

“Someone should call Lu,” Kesler said into the grim silence.

 

“I’m sorry sir.” The waiter glanced down at the book. “I have reservations for a Roberta Luongo.”

The other guys started laughing and Upshall and Boyes exchanged a high five.

“Seriously guys?” Luongo said rolling his eyes. “That’s the best you could come up with?” His phone started to ring and he answered it shaking his head at his teammates’ ineptitude at practical jokes, he’d have to come up with something to teach them how it was done. “Hello?”

“Lu?” a familiar voice said on the other end.

“Juice!” Luongo said grinning. “You guys miss me?”

There was silence from the other end then the sound of Bieksa taking a deep breath. “Lu, Eddie’s missing.”

“What!” He took a couple of steps away from his teammates. “What happened?”

“He’s been on this “live life to the fullest” kick since you left. He’d been talking about taking a helicopter tour over the mountains after the game yesterday afternoon. The helicopter went down. The pilot and another passenger were dead when they found it but there’s been no sign of Eddie or Rask—”

“Wait, _Rask?_ As in _Tuukka_ Rask?”

“Yeah.”

“Thanks for calling me Kevin, I’ll be there as soon as I can.” He ended the call.

“Everything okay Lu?” Upshall asked as he joined them at the table.

“I’ve got to head back to Vancouver, Lack’s gone missing in the mountains.” Luongo was already searching for flights on his phone.

“Man that sucks,” Pirri said. “Good luck, I hope you find him soon.”

 

Rask glanced over at Eddie who was walking quietly, staring at the ground. He felt a twinge of guilt about snapping at Eddie that morning, it wasn’t his fault that Adam had broken up with him. “Peanut butter,” he said when the silence started to get on his nerves.

Eddie looked over at him in confusion.

“Pop Tarts. Peanut butter is my favourite.”

A smile slowly spread across Eddie’s face. “Yeah? Mine too.”

Their trail had been moving steadily upwards and cut along the edge of a cliff, the other side of the path blocked by a wall of rock. They were almost to the other side where the trail widened out again when Lack’s foot slipped on the shale that littered the path and he skidded over the edge.

Rask lunged forward in time to catch the front of Eddie’s coat, the momentum jerking him forward and he landed on his stomach, stretched halfway off the path. Time froze as they stared at one another then Rask felt the slippery nylon of Lack’s coat start to slide through his grasp.

“Put your arms around me,” he said urgently, ignoring the sharp edges of the rocks that he was lying on.

Eddie carefully slid his arms around him and Rask did the same, clenching his teeth at the pain of the pressure against his left arm.

“We’re too heavy,” Eddie said glancing over his shoulder at the drop as they slid a little bit further over.

“We’re fine.” Rask tried to pull back but the weight and the lose rocks were working against them and he couldn’t move.

“I think I can brace my feet against the wall,” Eddie said. “But the movement might—”

“Just do it,” Rask growled, starting to feel the strain on his back.

Eddie swung his legs forward, bracing his feet against the rock. As he pushed up with his legs, almost walking up the cliff face, Rask started straightening up, keeping his hips and legs flat against the path. Eddie managed to get high enough that he could hook his right leg over the edge of the path and twist himself back up onto the path, his back hitting the rock wall behind him. He grabbed Rask around the waist and helped pull him back up, pieces of shale skittering off the path as they moved.

“That was terrifying,” Eddie said laughing slightly.

Rask could feel Eddie’s arms shaking from where they were still wrapped around him and he was sure Eddie could feel him shaking just as well. Rask took a couple of deep breaths to try and calm his nerves.

A flash of light caught the corner of his eye. “Move,” he said urgently.

Eddie looked at him then jumped as a bullet cut into the rock an inch above their faces, spraying shards of rock at them. They scrambled off the path as another bullet cut into the rock behind them.

Rask and Eddie ducked off the path simultaneously, threading their way back into the thick forest.


	3. Chapter 3

It was after midnight when Luongo arrived in Vancouver, 3:30 back in Florida, and he could feel his body protesting the late hour. He hadn’t bothered bringing any luggage, except for a few changes of clothes in his carryon, so he was able to skip the wait at the baggage claim and head straight out of the airport, his phone out looking for news about Eddie.

“Lu!”

He looked up in surprise and saw Henrik and Daniel waiting in the pickup area. Henrik, or maybe it was Daniel he couldn’t tell from this distance, waved at him.

He jogged across the street. “What are you guys doing here?” he asked hugging them both.

“We looked at the flight schedule and took a chance that you’d be on the earliest one,” Henrik answered.

“Do you know anything new?” Luongo asked as the three of them got into Daniel’s car. “Has Search and Rescue found anything?”

“Not yet,” Henrik said. “All the guys are going to go out tomorrow morning to help with the search. In the meantime you can come home with me and get some sleep.”

“I’m fine,” Luongo said. “I’d like to talk to Search and Rescue, find out what they’re doing to find Eddie.”

“You can do that when it’s light out.”

“They know what they’re doing Lu,” Daniel said glancing back at him in the rear view mirror. “They’ll make sure we get him back safe.”

 

Luongo crashed in Henrik’s guest room, thinking he would lay there long enough for his former captain to fall asleep before sneaking out and catching a cab out to the mountains. He closed his eyes for a minute and when he opened them the room was flooded with light. He looked at the clock in confusion and jumped up when he read 9:00 in large red numbers.

“Why didn’t you wake me up?” he demanded running into Henrik who was coming out of the kitchen. The sun had been up for hours and he’d wasted time sleeping.

“You weren’t going to do Eddie any good crashing about in the woods exhausted.” Henrik tossed him an apple and headed towards the door. “Come on, the rest of the guys are already there.”

Luongo frowned at Henrik’s back then bit into the apple and followed.

 

“I think we’re lost,” Eddie said hesitantly as the path they were following wound its way back down through the forest. “More lost,” he amended.

Rask frowned but didn’t answer.

“Maybe we should turn around?” Eddie continued.

“I think we should try to double back to the helicopter,” Rask said. “I don’t think these guys know the terrain any better than we do. Maybe we can get back to the helicopter far enough ahead of them that we can figure out how to call for help.”

 

There was a large crowd when they got to where Search and Rescue had set up to look for Rask and Eddie.

Luongo could see a group of reporters talking to Tanev and Kesler, as well as Chara and Marchand which surprised him, off to one side. Kesler noticed them and excused himself, jogging over.

“What’s going on Ryan?” Henrik asked.

“They’re not letting volunteers help with the search,” Kesler explained. “The official reason is that the trails are in too rough of shape because of all the rain we’ve had in the last few weeks.”

“Because Vancouver is usually such a dry place. What’s the unofficial reason?” Luongo asked.

Kesler hesitated. “Burr got one of the girls from Search and Rescue to talk to him and she said that the other passenger had been shot.”

“Shot,” Luongo repeated. “What about Eddie? They don’t think—”

“They haven’t found any sign of Eddie or Rask,” Kesler interrupted. “So Burr’s new girlfriend figures they’re together and that they’re hiding from whoever shot the other passenger.”

“That’s something at least,” Henrik said trying to sound positive.

“I’m going to go get some answers,” Luongo said starting walking through the crowd to the tent that had been set up to direct the search from. The front of the tent was open and he could see a petite brunette hunched over something on a folding table that had been set up inside.

She looked up when he walked into the tent. “I’m sorry sir,” she said. “Only Search and Rescue personnel are allowed in here.”

“Why haven’t you people brought Eddie home yet?” he demanded, any thought of having a rational conversation slipping away in irritation that this girl was just sitting here when Eddie was lost in the mountains somewhere.

Her expression was sympathetic. “I promise, we’re doing everything we can.” She looked over his shoulder and he glanced in the same direction to see that Henrik and Kesler had caught up to him.

He snorted derisively. “I want to help look for him.”

“I understand, but that’s not my decision. Until my bosses tell me otherwise, no one is allowed out there.”

“Do you know when that might be?” Kesler asked interrupting Luongo.

She hesitated then shook her head. “It all depends on the weather. They’re lucky to have such good friends, I’ll let you guys know the second we find them or you can head out and help look.”

“Thank you,” this time Henrik cut Luongo off. “Sorry to bother you.”

“Is there a reason you two won’t let me talk?” Luongo asked once they were away from the tent.

They exchanged a look.

“We might have a plan,” Kesler said cautiously.

Luongo waited for an explanation. “Well?” he asked when none came.

“We could probably head into the mountains on our own without anyone noticing,” Henrik said. “But we’re going to need some help.”

 

“You’ve gone hiking in these mountains before right?” Luongo asked Garrison once they’d found him, Bieksa, Burrows, and Daniel.

“Yeah,” Garrison said hesitantly. “But not for years. The trails could have changed a lot in that time.”

“You still know them better than any of us,” Henrik said. “If we’re going to go through with this we’d better be prepared.” He waited for objections then continued when none came. “Okay. Bieksa and Kesler will come with myself, Luongo, and Garrison into the woods. Daniel, get the rest of the guys to help you make sure no one notices we’re gone. Burrows, do you think you can get us more specific information about the area of the crash?”

Burrows grinned. “Piece of cake.”

“We’ll need supplies if we’re heading into the mountains,” Garrison said looking resigned.

“Okay. Write down what we’re going to need and the five of us will head back into Vancouver. We’ll meet back here in two hours.”

 

Burrows waited until he saw Haley leaving the tent before he slipped inside, pulling out his phone and snapping pictures of the various maps that had the crash site and the search information marked on them. He couldn’t take too long, Hayley was never gone for very long and he had to admire her dedication to her job. He sent the photos to Luongo and hurried back out of the tent. Not a second too soon as he saw Hayley walking back, her head down as she read something off her phone. Burrows hurried away before she noticed him.

 

They’d been walking through the forest for almost an hour when they realized someone was following them.

“Think someone saw us leave?” Bieksa asked.

“If it were Search and Rescue they would have stopped us by now,” Kesler said.

“Let’s see who it is then,” Luongo said stopping.

They didn’t have to wait long before their tails caught up to them.

“You’ve got to be kidding,” Bieksa said looking disgusted as Bergeron and Lucic came up the path. “What are you two doing out here?”

“If you can come out here to look for your goalie, we can do the same for ours,” Bergeron said stubbornly.

“We have a plan and supplies,” Bieksa pointed out. “You two don’t even have backpacks.”

“We’re wasting time,” Luongo interrupted. “Let them come if they want to.”

“It’s a good thing Burrows isn’t here,” Kesler said as they started walking again.


	4. Chapter 4

The morning after his friends had gone into the mountains after Eddie, Burrows headed over to the Search and Rescue tent to see if any progress had been made.

“Hi Hayley,” he said. “Any news?”

“I’m glad you’re here,” she said looking up with a smile. “They finished the examination of the helicopter, it was mechanical failure so our guys are allowed back up.”

“That’s great news,” Burrows said smiling with relief. “Excuse me, I have to go let the rest of the guys know.” He left the tent and wondered if he should call Henrik and let him know. It wasn’t an emergency but it was something that might be important. He pulled up the number for the satellite phone Garrison had rented and hit call. It rang twice then Garrison picked up.

“Hey,” Burrows greeted him. “No nothing’s wrong. I just wanted to let you guys know that you might have some company, they’re letting the search helicopters go back up. Yeah. You guys be careful out there.” He hung up and turned around to see Hayley standing directly behind him.

“Please tell me your friends didn’t go out there,” she said.

“Um…”

“They did didn’t they? Why in the world would they do something so stupid?”

Burrows bristled at her tone. “It’s our friend out there and your team didn’t seem to be doing anything about it.”

She glared at him. “Excuse me. I’ve got to go radio everyone out there that they might have more people to look out for.”

 

Eddie was relieved when the forest started to look almost familiar and he hoped that meant they were getting closer to the crashed helicopter. They’d been moving faster, trying to outpace the people shooting at them.

Eddie nearly ran into Rask as he stopped short, a man holding a rifle stepping out of the woods in front of them.

“It must be my lucky day,” the man said grinning. “I guess Poinsettia was right to leave me here in case you doubled back.”

“Your friends have tried to kill us twice,” Rask said slowly. “How come you’re not?”

“I’ve been listening in,” he gestured at the radio on his belt. “Turns out you two are worth a lot of money. I think Poinsettia will understand if I keep you alive until he shows up.”

 

“The crash site should be just ahead,” Garrison said looking at the map that he’d marked all the information from Burrows pictures on. They passed through the edge of the trees into a clearing where the metal corpse of the helicopter lay. It looked like the police had been through the area to remove the bodies of the unfortunate two who had been killed as well as the smaller evidence. They’d likely return later to remove the helicopter itself.

“So where do we go now?” Kesler asked looking around.

Garrison frowned down at the map and Lucic joined him.

“If they had any knowledge of the area they’d try to go this way,” the Bruin said taping his finger on the map.

The crack of gunshots rang through the forest nearby and the seven of them ran forward. Luongo dropped his pack so he could move more easily through the trees and was the first to break through the trees onto a narrow trail.

“Eddie!” he shouted seeing him first, running forward and throwing his arms around him. It took a second for him to realize that there was a man lying motionless on the trail, blood soaking through the front of his shirt, and a man in a forestry uniform standing nearby talking on a radio.

The others caught up then and the Canucks barreled into him and Eddie like they were celebrating something big on ice while the Bruins made a beeline for Rask who was standing a short distance away.

“What are you guys doing here?” Eddie asked looking stunned.

“You didn’t think we would just sit by while you were lost out here did you?” Luongo joked.

“It would have been the smart thing to do,” the conservation officer said finishing his conversation and shaking his head. “We’ve got a helicopter coming by, we’ll have you out of here soon.”


	5. Chapter 5

Eddie was laughing as Luongo finished telling him about the prank his teammates had played on him and his attempts to come up with something fitting to get back on them. “So what did you decide to do?”

“I decided to go with a classic, I put pink hair dye in their shampoo.” There was the sound of a commotion in the background. “I’ve got to go Eddie,” Luongo said laughing. “Talk to you later.”

They ended the call and Eddie wandered into the kitchen to get something to drink, setting his phone down on the counter as he poured a cup of orange juice.

It was a week since his unexpected adventure in the mountains and thankfully he wasn’t going to miss any games because of it, though according to the press release Rask had to sit a few weeks out for his arm, which thankfully was badly bruised but not broken, to heal. Eddie picked up his phone again and stared down at the most recent number he’d added. It hadn’t been too difficult to get Rask’s number but he still wasn’t sure if the other goalie would want to hear from him.

_Hey_ , he typed then hesitated, _how’s your arm?_ He was honestly surprised when after a few minutes he got a response even if it was just the word _better_ and a second later, _thanks._ Eddie grinned and started typing a reply.

**Author's Note:**

> My 13th story, posted on Friday the 13th! Of course it would be something like this:)


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